Event coverage

Hilton Palacio del Rio 50th Anniversary Party

Our photos from the Hilton Palacio del Rio’s 50th anniversary celebration in San Antonio, from the HAPPY 50 message lit in the tower’s windows to cocktails on the hotel’s terrace, dinner in the ballroom, a program of speakers, a dessert parade by the service team and dancing to a live band.

A clear ice sculpture shaped like a high-rise hotel with the number 50 carved into its face, lit purple and set on peach flowers on a gold tablecloth.

An ice sculpture of the hotel tower, carved with a large 50, sits on a bed of peach flowers in the ballroom.

The tower lights up

A tall hotel tower at night with its lit windows forming the words HAPPY 50 above the glowing entrance.

Lit windows spell out “HAPPY 50” across the Hilton Palacio del Rio’s tower at night.

A low-angle view of the hotel tower at night, its lit windows spelling HAPPY 50, with streetlights and a traffic signal in the foreground.

The tower’s lit windows spell out “HAPPY 50” high above streetlights and a traffic signal at the corner below.

The hotel tower with rows of lit windows stands above trees and the downtown skyline at night.

The lit-up tower rises over the trees and the downtown San Antonio skyline.

Cocktails on the terrace

Guests in cocktail attire stand and talk on a wide rooftop terrace under a dark wooden pergola, with the Tower of the Americas and downtown buildings in the background.

Guests gather under the terrace pergola with the Tower of the Americas rising behind them.

Two women in black dresses laugh hard while a man in a gray suit smiles beside them near a stone column.

Guests break into laughter beside a stone column on the terrace.

A smiling woman in a blue suit with a flower corsage sits on a terrace ledge beside a laughing man in a blue pinstripe suit, with downtown high-rises behind them.

Two guests in matching blue share a laugh on the terrace, with the downtown skyline behind them.

A smiling server in a black vest and bow tie holds a tray with two glasses of red wine while a man in a gray hat raises his hands and a seated woman laughs.

A server carries glasses of red wine as guests laugh at a nearby table.

A woman in a black dress and gold necklace laughs with her arm around an older man as a younger man and a woman in black stand arm in arm beside them.

Friends link arms and share a laugh by the pergola posts.

Three musicians in black play classical guitar, bass guitar and bongos between stone columns, with a Gothic steeple behind them.

A guitar, bass and bongo trio plays under the colonnade with a steeple in the distance.

A bartender in a black vest and bow tie works at an outdoor bar lined with bottles, under the rows of balconies on the hotel tower.

A bartender mixes drinks at the terrace bar below the hotel’s stacked balconies.

Dinner in the ballroom

A chef in a white Hilton jacket and striped cap and a cook in a black cap carry dessert plates beside an ice sculpture ringed with small plated desserts on a gold table.

A sous chef and a cook carry plated desserts past the ice sculpture.

An older woman with silver hair and glasses smiles behind a blurred orange flower arrangement and a pink table number card.

A guest smiles from her seat behind the centerpiece at table 2.

A woman in a white lace top and red earrings listens as an older woman in a black and gold jacket gestures with both hands.

Two guests talk with their hands across the table during dinner.

A young woman holds up a phone for a selfie while her friend puckers her lips beside her, behind a pink table card with the number 20.

A guest holds up her phone for a selfie as her friend puckers her lips beside her at table 20.

The program

Two men in dark jackets shake hands in front of purple-lit drapes while one holds a framed certificate.

Two men shake hands on stage as a framed City of San Antonio proclamation changes hands.

A bearded man in a dark blazer and open-collar shirt stands at a clear lectern under blue light, smiling toward the audience.

A speaker in a dark blazer addresses the ballroom from the lectern.

A curly-haired man in black puts his arm around a man in a suit speaking into a microphone, as a bass player smiles behind them under pink light.

The band’s singer joins a speaker at the microphone.

A woman in a black dress stands at a clear podium under purple light, smiling as she speaks.

A speaker smiles out at the room from the clear acrylic podium.

Dessert on parade

A smiling server in a black vest holds a meringue-topped cake while other servers raise white napkins and plates above their heads in a ballroom lit pink and purple.

Servers wave white napkins as they carry candlelit cakes across the dance floor.

A man in a black vest and bow tie holds a long cake with toasted meringue and a row of lit candles.

A server pauses with a meringue-topped cake glowing with candles.

A woman in a black vest and bow tie holds a white platter with a meringue cake topped with lit candles, with liquor bottles behind her.

A server holds her candlelit cake near the bar.

About forty banquet servers in black vests, white shirts and bow ties pose together on a ballroom dance floor, the front row kneeling, under purple and blue lights.

The banquet service team gathers on the dance floor in matching vests and bow ties, the front row kneeling.

Music and dancing

An older man in a tan jacket dances with a woman in black while another couple dances beside them under pink and purple lighting.

Couples take to the parquet dance floor as the band plays.

A woman sings into a handheld microphone between two male singers, one playing guitar, in front of purple and blue lit drapes.

The band’s singers perform on the ballroom stage.

A curly-haired man in black and a woman in a black jumpsuit dance on stage beside a drummer and microphone stands under pink light.

Two of the band’s singers dance during a song.

A woman in a fuchsia dress and a man in a black suit grin at the camera while dancing among other couples on a parquet floor.

A couple turns to the camera mid-dance.

A group in suits and dresses wears a cake hat, jester hats, novelty sunglasses and bunny ears in front of a green backdrop.

Guests pile on silly hats and oversized glasses at the green screen photo booth.

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